Page 23 of Blame It On the Secret Santa

Fifteen

Cassidy

It had been a longday at work, so an evening in cozy pajamas with a pepperoni pizza and a bottle of wine was just what the doctor ordered. Okay, so I was now technically referring to myself asdoctor, but it made me feel better. Plus, it was a Friday night, and I had the next two days off of work.

There was nothing on TV, so I played on my phone, browsing social media until I got bored. I had already wrapped the majority of the gifts I’d purchased and stacked them neatly under the tree in my living room. I still had a few people left to buy for, but I planned to see what I could find at Frosty Fest tomorrow.

Almost everyone I knew in Sugarplum Falls waited to finish their holiday shopping until after Frosty Fest. It was a huge thing in town, and people came from all over to attend it. We’d also gotten vendors who came from neighboring towns, which made it easier to find those unique gifts people were always looking for.

But while Frosty Fest could solve a lot of other problems, it couldn’t solve my current dilemma about what to get for Sean. I’d been racking my brain for weeks with not a single idea of what would make a good Secret Santa gift. It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to be an asshole and get him a terrible gift; it was that these gifts would be opened at the annual Waldon’s holiday party that wastwodays before Christmas. So not only would he get to see what I got him, but all of our coworkers would see as well.

I opened a new browser on my phone and typed:what to get someone you hate for Christmas.

I stifled a giggle as I took a sip of wine and read the list of the top ten gift ideas.

A donation in their name; that way, they actually get nothing

Self-help books

Something messy for their children if they have them

A super loud chew toy for their dog if they have one

A candle in a scent you know they don’t like, or your favorite scent so they have to think of you whenever they smell it

A calendar of animals pooping

A t-shirt printed with your face on it

A candle shaped into a hand with the middle finger lifted

A bag of their least favorite snack or a gift card to a restaurant they hate

A poem about all the ways they annoy you and why you hate them

By the last item, I had laughed so hard that I nearly spit my wine out and choked. None of these were things I would ever consider for Sean, except maybe getting him a vanilla-scented candle that would make him think of me. But that was definitely hitting below the belt and had the potential to backfire by making him think that I liked him again.

I closed the browser and opened one of my online shopping apps, hoping something would jump out at me. There was less than a week until Christmas, and I couldn’t afford to show up to the party empty-handed. There had to be a gift out there somewhere that saidI don’t quite like you, but I don’t hate you either, and I was determined to find it.

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